


Lustrous

by aBarlowRose



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Boating, Cute, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Ficlet, Fluff, One Shot, Oxford, Relaxation, Short, Short One Shot, Sweet, day trip, punting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-13
Updated: 2018-11-13
Packaged: 2019-08-23 08:19:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16615319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aBarlowRose/pseuds/aBarlowRose
Summary: River takes the Doctor on a day trip.





	Lustrous

Most times the Doctor takes River out, they go to loud, busy places; glamorous places; places where they can get into all sorts of fantastic trouble. But sometimes when the Doctor arrives, River asks for calm.  

And while there are plenty of empty spaces in the universe, there are very few that are quiet.  

Surprisingly, River’s favorite quiet place is in the middle of a city, surrounded by students and tourists. The first time they visit Oxford, the Doctor begins to go on about “the whole of time and space,” but River just raises an eyebrow and smiles. She grabs his hand and dashes down the streets, stone edifices abruptly giving way to lush greenery and the cheerful glint of a canal. She pulls some money from who knows where, waves it in front of a bored-looking teenager, and rents them a punt for the whole day. She deposits the Doctor in a seat and takes the pole, pushing them out and away from the world.

For a while, neither River nor the Doctor speaks. The slow rhythm of the punting pole becomes a pulse that drives them down the vein of the canal, away from the hustle of streets and into quieter, greener country. Eventually, River stops pricking the punt along and simply lets the current carry them. Laying down her pole, she joins the Doctor, who is gazing contemplatively out along the banks, watching the grasses bend in the light summer breeze and the willows draw their fingers lazily across the surface of the water. River leans her head on his shoulder and drops her own fingers over the side, trailing a tiny wake, feeling the motion around her ebb and flow. Her other hand is laced with the Doctor’s.  

“This is…” he begins.

“Domestic?” River supplies.

“ _Lustrous._ ”

And River understands. He isn’t talking about the bright sun shiny on the water or the glow given off by the leaves caught in its rays. He isn’t talking about the relief of escaping bustle and hurry. The Doctor is speaking about the strange effect such moments have on the soul; they shine and shimmer and bury themselves deeply inside, making cozy warm nests through which gleams shyly peep. River smiles and closes her eyes.

The Doctor kisses her hair and lets his head drop back, relishing the sunlight and the wind that mingle on his brow. 

“The whole of space and time,” he murmurs again, “and you manage to find the brightest part.”

**Author's Note:**

> I originally wrote this as Eleven, but it feels more like Twelve to me now. It's unspecified in-fic, so imagine what you want.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Please comment any tw/cw tags you'd like to see applied.


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